The 2015 JIIP Summer School took place on 9th June, in Espoo, Finland, at VTT. Representatives from all four of the JIIP members, together with the JIIP Brussels team particpated in this year’s event, which built on the work started during last year’s Summer School in Bilbao. The topic this year was: Renewal of the Manufacturing Industry: Good Practices, Novel Approaches and Learning from the European Experience. As Europe seeks to secure the competitiveness of the European manufacturing industry, a number of new initiatives have emerged in recent years throughout the EU member states. Within this context, the discussion explored initiatives such as Smart Specalisation in the Basque Country, Dutch initiatives and experiences in Industry Renewal 4.0, and reviewed the innovation performances of Austria and the Nordic Countries.
Many of the Summer School participants went on to attend the EU SPRI Conference on “Innovation policies for economic and social transitions: Developing strategies for knowledge, practice and institutions”, in Helsinki on 10-12th June. JIIP member VTT is an active member of the Eu-SPRI Forum and was a key organiser of this event.